Alex Ferguson congratulated coaching staff before Sergio Aguero goal

Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson congratulated his coaching staff, moments before Manchester City star Sergio Aguero broke Red Devils hearts by scoring a last minute winner to secure the Premier League title for the Citizens in 2012.

As reported by the Mirror, this is what has been claimed by Ferguson's former assistant Rene Meulensteen, who has also insisted that the former Manchester United boss made a huge mistake with Paul Scholes in the title run-in.

So close

The Red Devils, of course, were seconds away from landing their 20th Premier League title, but Aguero's late winner for the Sky Blues stunned players of Manchester United, who had just beaten Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Six words

And Ferguson's six fatal words before the extraordinary scenes at the Etihad have now been revealed by Meulensteen. After United's victory against the Black Cats - and before City's last minute winner - Ferguson said:

Scholes factor

According to Meulensteen, though, the Red Devils lost the league at the DW Stadium as Ferguson opted to hand the then veteran Scholes a rest.

Ultimately, without Scholes, United suffered a nightmare defeat as Shaun Maloney struck the only goal of the game, and Meulensteen has hinted that things would have been different if Scholes had played.

Speaking about the Wigan clash to fanzine United We Stand, Meulensteen said: "That's where we lost the league.

"The manager thought that Paul Scholes, our key player and the one who could change the rhythm of the game, wasn't right to play two games in a week and for that reason he wasn't in the squad and we missed him."

There's no doubt about it, the 2011/12 season is one Manchester United fans will never forget - but for the wrong reasons.

Still a legend

Ferguson, though, must be commended for the way he and his team responded the season after as the Red Devils eventually secured a 20th Premier League crown. The 2012/13 campaign certainly proved far easier for the Red Devils as they eased to the title by 11 points.

There's no doubt about it, despite a few mishaps along the way, Ferguson retired as one of the all-time greatest managers and will forever be remembered as a legend amongst the Manchester United faithful.

Manchester United fans: Did Ferguson retire too early? Have your say in the comments section below!

Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: http://gms.to/writeforgms

Report author of article

DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

Want more content like this?

Like our GiveMeSport Facebook Page and you will get this directly to you.